Written Answers Thursday 5 June 2008

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days were directly connected with alcohol-related conditions in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is provided in table 1, which shows the total length of stay of patients discharged from general acute hospitals in Scotland with alcohol-related diagnoses in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07, the last three years for which information is available. The figures for 2006-07 are provisional and may be subject to slight revision.

  The figures in the table relate to those individuals who are treated as in-patients, they do not include individuals managed as out-patients. The figures exclude mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals.

  Table 1: The Total Length of Stay of Patients Discharged from General Acute Hospitals in Scotland with Alcohol-Related Diagnoses: 2004-05 to 2006-07

  

 Year
 Total Length of Stay (Days)


 2004-05
 253,812


 2005-06
 253,463


 2006-07
 261,539

Ambulance Service

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the locations of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s three emergency medical dispatch centres.

Shona Robison: The locations are:

  Edinburgh Emergency Call Despatch Centre

  111 Oxgangs Road North

  Edinburgh

  Inverness Emergency Call Despatch Centre

  Raigmore Gardens

  Inverness

  Paisley Emergency Call Despatch Centre

  15 Craw Road

  Paisley.

Ambulance Service

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the locations of the five emergency medical dispatch centres which were closed following the Scottish Ambulance Service’s Operations Room Review.

Shona Robison: The locations of the five emergency medical dispatch centres, which were closed under the previous administration following the Scottish Ambulance Service’s operations room review, were Ayr, Glasgow, Motherwell, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Ambulance Service

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls were received in each of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s eight emergency medical dispatch centres in the year prior to the reconfiguration of centres.

Shona Robison: This information is not held by the Scottish Ambulance Service in the format requested.

  However, as part of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s operations room review the average calls handled per day in 2000-01 by each of the eight emergency medical dispatch centres were recorded and this information is set out in the following table.

  

 Site
 Average Calls/Day


 Edinburgh
 306.8


 Glasgow
 366.51


 Motherwell
 185.22


 Paisley
 289.1


 Ayr
 107.9


 Dundee
 314.3


 Aberdeen
 211.28


 Inverness
 83.9


 Total
 1865.01



  Information provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Ambulance Service

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls were received in each of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s three emergency medical dispatch centres in 2007-08.

Shona Robison: The information requested has been provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and is set out in the following table.

  

 EMDC
 Calls


 Edinburgh 
 267,697


 Inverness
 133,150


 Paisley
 416,232


 Scotland
 817,079

Ambulance Service

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what issues have been identified as a result of the reduction in Scottish Ambulance Service’s emergency medical dispatch centres from eight to three.

Shona Robison: Operations Rooms or Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDCs) control the deployment of staff and vehicle resources to meet demand.

  In 2002, under the previous administration, the Scottish Ambulance Service approved the move from eight operations rooms covering accident and emergency and the Patient Transport Service to three EMDCs (Edinburgh, Inverness and Paisley) and a "hub and spoke" model for Patient Transport Service dispatching based in hospitals.

  The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing confirmed in her statement to Parliament on 4 June that she has asked the Chief Medical Officer to commission an independent evaluation of the front loaded model. The terms of reference will be agreed in partnership.

  The Scottish Ambulance Service had noted that resources are deployed more efficiently and effectively than before. Moving the patient transport dispatching to sit within hospitals has supported better punctuality and reliability of service. There is also more local decision making, involving partners in the planning and operation of the Patient Transport Service now they are based in hospitals.

  Scottish Ambulance Service resilience and business recovery arrangements are also strengthened. The move provided an essential platform for the introduction of priority-based dispatch and was also cost effective and good value for the public purse. With three centres there is a consistency of approach and the recent appointment of a general manager for EMDCs is further improving the quality and effectiveness of the EMDCs in Scotland.

  The Scottish Government and the Scottish Ambulance Service will continue to drive for improvement and the most recent review of the EMDCs has resulted in a decision to co-locate the three EMDCs with NHS 24 in a bid to further improve the service delivered to patients.

Ambulance Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many rapid response vehicles the Scottish Ambulance Service have introduced over the last 12 months, broken down by NHS board area and ambulance station.

Shona Robison: The information is not held in the format requested. However, the Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that a total of eight additional rapid response vehicles have been introduced in the last 12 months, seven of which are either being trialled in some areas or are supporting extra capacity in others and one which has been introduced in Dumfries.

Ambulance Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many two-man vehicles have been removed or reduced to one-man by the Scottish Ambulance Service over the last 12 months, broken down by NHS board area and ambulance station.

Shona Robison: This information is not held in the format requested. However, the Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that in the last 12 months, three two-man vehicles have been removed from the fleet.

Ambulance Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulance crew positions are currently vacant due to secondment, maternity leave or sickness, broken down by NHS board area and ambulance station.

Shona Robison: This information is not held in the format requested.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulances are available on each shift pattern in the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar stations.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service has provided the following table.

  

 Station
 Resource
 Mon
 Tues
 Wed
 Thur
 Fri
 Sat
 Sun


 Vale of Leven
 Day shift double crew Ambulance
 3
 3
 3
 3
 3
 2
 2


 
 Night shift double crew Ambulance
 3
 3
 3
 3
 3
 3
 2


 
 Day shift FRV Single crew paramedic 7-3 Mon-Fri & Sat/Sun 9am to 9pm
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1


 
 Back shift FRV Single crew paramedic up to 11pm Mon-Fri
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 0
 0


 Helensburgh
 Day shift double crew Ambulance
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1


 
 Night shift double crew Ambulance
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1


 Arrochar
 Day shift double crew Ambulance
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 1


 
 Night shift double crew Ambulance
 o/c
 o/c
 o/c
 o/c
 o/c
 o/c
 o/c



  Notes:

  o/c = on call from home address.

  FRV = Fast Response Vehicle paramedic car.

  Excludes Patient Transport Ambulances.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many paramedics are rostered on each ambulance across each shift pattern in the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar stations.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that crews are rostered to achieve at least one paramedic on each double crewed shift, as well as to provide the paramedic cover required for the shifts operated by the rapid response vehicle operating out of the Vale of Leven.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ambulances have been unable to be deployed on shifts at the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar stations due to staff sickness during the last six months, also broken down by month.

Shona Robison: It is not possible to provide the information in the format requested. However, the Scottish Ambulance Service has provided the following table which sets out all shifts not covered. These may be seen in the context of more than 2,000 rostered shifts across the three stations over the last six months. Reasons for shifts not covered will include staff sickness and vacancies.

  

 
 December 2007
 January 2008
 February 2008
 March 2008
 April 2008
 May 2008
 Total


 Vale of Leven
 5
 6
 4
 4
 3
 7
 29


 Helensburgh
 2
 0
 1
 2
 5
 0
 10


 Arrochar
 0
 2
 7
 14
 0
 14
 37


 Total
 7
 8
 12
 20
 8
 21
 



  As the Cabinet Secretary made clear in her statement to the Parliament on 4 June 2008, the Scottish Ambulance Service must make every effort to cover all shifts and budget controls should not determine decisions about whether or not to cover shifts.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the response times were for ambulances attending patients in (a) Dumbarton, (b) the Vale of Leven, (c) Helensburgh and (d) the Rosneath Peninsula set against national targets, in each of the last six months.

Shona Robison: The national response time target for category A calls (life threatening) across mainland Scotland is that, by March 2009, 75% of all incidents should be reached within eight minutes.

  The national response time target for category B calls (serious but not life threatening) across mainland Scotland is that, by March 2009, 95% of all incidents should be reached within 14, 19 or 21 minutes depending on population density. For the locations requested, the target is 21 minutes.

  The information requested has been provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45730).

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the overtime budget was for the Scottish Ambulance Service for 2007-08 and what it is for 2008-09.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service has advised that the final overtime budget in 2007-08 was £2.615 million. The current planned overtime budget for 2008-09 is £3.247 million though this figure is subject to revision over the course of the year.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all ambulances are double-crewed, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Shona Robison: The service operates a range of vehicle types deployed according to the clinical condition of the patient. Rapid Response Vehicles tend to be single responders, accident and emergency units should be double crewed, as should mid tier and urgent tier units.

  The statement to Parliament on 4 June by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing made clear the position of the Scottish Government on these matters.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all ambulances from the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Arrochar are double-crewed.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Ambulance Service has confirmed that all traditional Accident and Emergency Units (AEUs) are rostered to be double crewed. However, in exceptional circumstances, such as short notice sickness absence, a single manned unit AEU may be deployed.

  The statement to Parliament on 4 June by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing made clear the position of the Scottish Government on these matters.

  In addition there are single crewed Paramedic Rapid Response Vehicles at the Vale of Leven.

Ambulance Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned that a claim of bullying and harassment has been submitted to NHSScotland against senior management of the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government takes very seriously all claims of bullying and harassment.

  However, it is important that such claims are dealt with thoroughly and appropriately by the board of the Scottish Ambulance Service as the employer, ensuring that due process is followed and that rights under employment law and NHSScotland’s staff governance framework are respected.

  The statement to Parliament on 4 June by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing made clear the position of the Scottish Government on these matters.

Ambulance Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the real-terms decrease in the mileage rate paid by the Scottish Ambulance Service to volunteer drivers is acceptable.

na Robison: While this is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service, they have assured me that the current rates, last reviewed in May, cover the costs. The Scottish Ambulance Service will now be reviewing the rates on a monthly basis to ensure this continues to be the case.

  However, given the continuing increases in fuel costs, I would expect to see the rates for volunteer ambulance drivers to increase in light of these reviews.

Ambulance Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has in place to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of volunteer drivers.

Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10474 on 10 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Ambulance Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the use of taxis by the NHS to supplement the ambulance and volunteer service is an effective use of public money.

Shona Robison: This is a matter for NHS boards. It is understood, however, that taxis may be used under specific circumstances. For instance some areas co-ordinate the use of local taxis under contract arrangements to bring people in to the out-of-hours service if they are unable to travel by their own means and do not require ambulance transport. This ensures that patients can get to a treatment outwith the times covered by community or voluntary car schemes and avoids inappropriate use for emergency ambulances.

Ambulance Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives can be offered to local groups, such as the Badenoch and Strathspey Community Transport Company volunteer car scheme, to recruit new volunteer drivers.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Executive does not provide direct support to local community based projects. However, local voluntary organisations can apply to the NHS board in their area for grant funding under section 16b of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. As funding is limited applications will be considered on their merit and against all of the applications received.

  I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10474 on 10 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Ambulance Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors will be taken into account when reviewing the mileage rates paid by the Scottish Ambulance Service to volunteer drivers.

Shona Robison: While this is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service, it has advised me that the factors that will be taken in to account will be the costs of fuel and the costs of maintaining vehicles.

Animal Welfare

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10766 by Richard Lochhead on 12 March 2008, when the draft regulations requiring puppy and kitten dealers to be licensed by local authorities will be laid before the Parliament.

Richard Lochhead: The draft Regulations on the licensing of dealers in puppies and kittens were laid before Parliament on Friday, 30 May 2008.

Business

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rents have been per square metre for business premises in (a) Kilmarnock and Loudoun and (b) Scotland in each year since 1999.

John Swinney: This information is not held centrally by Scottish Government and it is not possible to obtain this information from external sources as no one calculates average rents per square metre for business premises.

Cancer

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were screened for (a) breast, (b) cervical, (c) bowel, (d) prostate and (e) testicular cancer in each NHS board area in 2007-08.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not yet available for 2007-2008. Information on the number of people that were screened prior to 2007-08 is available on the Information Services Division website:

  (a) Breast screening – 2005-06

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/cancer-breast-screening.jsp?pContentID=1622&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

  (b) Cervical screening – 2006-07

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/cancer-cervical-screening.jsp?pContentID=1673&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

  (c) Bowel screening – This programme is currently being rolled out across Scotland. Data from the original pilot will be published in August 2008. Data from the roll out will be published in early 2009. Full information on the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme can be accessed on the website at:

  http://www.bowelscreening.scot.nhs.uk/.

  (d) Prostate screening – No data is available on the number of patients screened for prostate cancer, as this is not a national screening programme.

  (e) Testicular screening – No data is available on the number of patients screened for testicular cancer, as this is not a national screening programme.

Children and Young People

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce children’s rights services nationally, independent of local authorities.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government is committed to promoting and supporting children’s rights through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Scottish Government is looking to better implement the UNCRC in a collaborative way with local authorities, COSLA and the Children’s Commissioner. We have no plans to act independently of that collaborative approach.

Children and Young People

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to use the Children’s Rights impact assessment tool, developed by the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland, for proofing future government policy.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government is committed to promoting and supporting the rights of children in Scotland. We are currently looking into the possibility of using the Children’s Rights Impact Assessment Tool to help inform the development of policy and legislation.

Council Tax

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would be (a) competent and (b) necessary under the Scotland Act 1998 for the Parliament to legislate to give local authorities the power to reduce council tax for holders of any bonds issued by Scottish local authorities.

John Swinney: It would be competent to draw up subordinate legislation to give local authorities the power to reduce council tax for holders of bonds issued by that local authority. The authority for this is drawn from section 80 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, rather than from the Scotland Act 1998. As independent bodies, it would ultimately be for individual local authorities to offer such a facility, if enacted.

Courts

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was collected by each district court in each of the last three years and how much was (a) retained by each local authority and (b) forwarded to HM Treasury.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is contained in the following table. This data is taken from the annual returns made by Commission Areas to the Scottish Government.

  Money Collected1 and Sent Out by District Courts 2004-05 to 2006-07, by Commission Area

  

Commission Area 
 Value of Fines and Fixed Penalties Collected During Year
 Value of Fines and Fixed Penalties Sent to the Exchequer During the Year


 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Aberdeen City
£1,080,678
£852,047
£680,400
£289,360
£255,186
£275,941


 Aberdeenshire
£440,674
£560,965
£994,982
£310,988
£343,928
£310,988


 Angus
£488,752
£518,559
£395,271
£323,277
£356,047
£323,277


 Argyll and Bute
£212,839
£216,652
£221,416
£134,089
£128,146
£134,089


 Clackmannanshire
£140,064
£129,213
£151,780
£93,135
£87,934
£93,135


 Dumfries and Galloway
 n/a
£377,238
 n/a
 n/a
£363,628
 n/a


 Dundee City
£656,948
£567,679
 n/a
£261,985
£242,942
 n/a


 East Ayrshire
£1,371,905
£350,553
£271,683
£230,560
£275,828
£230,560


 East Dunbartonshire
£158,934
£103,905
£110,016
£95,621
£34,630
£95,621


 East Lothian
£125,044
£140,695
 n/a
£86,984
£114,053
 n/a


 East Renfrewshire
£59,580
£104,908
£50,717
£43,232
£39,672
£43,232


 Edinburgh, City of
£2,885,881
£2,357,461
£2,185,353
£795,448
£1,264,788
£795,448


 Eilean Siar
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 Falkirk
£476,545
£538,580
£354,339
£369,331
£440,621
£369,331


 Fife
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 Glasgow City
£3,359,364
£3,274,122
£3,420,280
£2,475,738
£1,650,945
£2,475,738


 Highland
£839,748
£948,809
£854,598
£586,691
£471,138
£586,691


 Inverclyde
£340,472
£304,680
£235,938
£294,719
£250,605
£294,719


 Midlothian
£108,068
£149,083
£119,074
£65,999
£108,493
£65,999


 Moray
£133,900
£148,084
£71,248
£84,373
£93,307
£84,373


 North Ayrshire
£1,018,904
£240,133
£280,723
£143,024
£194,041
£143,024


 North Lanarkshire
£804,391
£739,141
£589,702
£237,250
£251,766
£237,250


 Perth and Kinross
£731,398
£681,201
£363,013
£136,721
£236,814
£136,721


 Renfrewshire
£183,932
£313,802
£398,438
£120,507
£176,519
£120,507


 Scottish Borders
£315,436
£376,431
£346,047
£254,870
£289,745
£254,870


 South Ayrshire
£409,938
 n/a
£383,761
£144,565
 n/a
£144,565


 South Lanarkshire
£565,827
£765,221
£681,893
£395,791
£340,522
£395,791


 Stirling
 n/a
£198,117
£190,437
 n/a
£134,041
 n/a


 West Dunbartonshire
£201,584
£218,385
£220,476
£99,717
£116,524
£99,717


 West Lothian
£333,804
£331,925
£458,486
£252,537
£236,028
£252,537


 Scotland
£17,444,611
£15,507,589
£14,030,072
£8,326,514
£8,497,890
£7,964,126



  Notes:

  1. Including fines imposed by the court, registered fines, compensation orders, fines transferred out, fiscal fines and fixed penalty notices.

  n/a - information not available from Commission Areas.

  In some areas, a proportion of the money collected by district courts is also sent to the Safety Camera Partnership.

Crime

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will use seized proceeds of crime to fund sporting and cultural projects in the areas of Mid Scotland and Fife hardest-hit by crime.

Kenny MacAskill: I have already announced over £7 million of investment in the young people of Scotland using the ill-gotten gains of organised crime. This significant programme of activity in sports, the arts and youthwork will be used to benefit young people of all ages throughout Scotland including those in Mid Scotland and Fife.

  Our young people need to be given the opportunity to reach their potential and to have real hope for their future. This government recognises that the vast majority of them are not offenders. But we want to do more to prevent them getting involved in crime or antisocial behaviour in the first place.

  The devil makes work for idle hands so if we are asking our young people to be responsible members of society, we must provide them with the opportunities to do so.

Culture

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether appropriate rehearsal and office accommodation which fully meets the needs of the National Theatre of Scotland has now been found.

Linda Fabiani: The National Theatre of Scotland currently occupies office and rehearsal space at The Bridge in Easterhouse, offices in Hope Street, and storage space at Glasgow North Trading Estate, and makes use of other rehearsal, workshop and meeting spaces on a regular basis.

  The National Theatre of Scotland remains committed to its permanent home base at The Bridge in Easterhouse and to maintaining and enhancing its relationship with the community there. The lease of the Company’s Hope Street offices is, however, due to expire in October 2008. The National Theatre of Scotland is therefore exploring options for alternative short-term office accommodation to supplement its permanent home base at The Bridge from October 2008 when the lease on its temporary premises in Hope Street expires.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-11956 and S3W-11965 by Adam Ingram on 30 April 2008, whether the current guidance as to what shall constitute appropriate qualifications for teachers of children with a hearing impairment has been approved by the General Teaching Council for Scotland as part of its Framework for Professional Recognition for teachers in Scotland and, if so, when this approval was granted.

Adam Ingram: The General Teaching Council for Scotland met with officials on 9 August 2007 and agreed that the current guidance as to what shall constitute appropriate qualifications for teachers of children with hearing impairment would be one of the areas of interest for professional recognition.

Dentistry

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12895 by Shona Robison on 20 May 2008, why information on dental registrations from 2002 to 2006 is not available.

Shona Robison: Information on dental registrations is available by NHS board of residence from 2002 to 2006. Data, however, are not available by local authority area prior to March 2007 as historical information extracted from MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System), the NHS general dental service database, did not include the postcode of the dental practice, and therefore did not allow for matching to local authority area.

Dentistry

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12895 by Shona Robison on 20 May 2008, when information will be available from December 2007 to March 2008 on the percentage of people registered with an NHS dentist in each local authority area in the Lothians, broken down by age group.

Shona Robison: NHS General Dental Service registrations for quarter ending 31 December 2007 were published under National Statistics protocols on 27 May 2008 and include information by local authority in the Lothians by age group. http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4680.html .

  Quarter ending March 2008 data will be published on 29 July 2008.

Digital Technology

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it was decided which communities in the Western Isles were to have broadband supplied by British Telecom or Connected Communities.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what local consultation occurred prior to any decision being made about which suppliers supplied which communities in the Western Isles with broadband.

Jim Mather: BT chose which exchanges they would enable for broadband on the Western Isles. Their decision was a purely commercial one in which the government had no role. It essentially left the smallest exchanges in the Western Isles with no commercial provision and so broadband access for communities in those exchange areas was addressed by Connected Communities. Connected Communities is led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and it is HIE who deal with all operational matters around its design and delivery.

Digital Technology

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that broadband customers in the Western Isles should have a choice of broadband providers.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage choice of broadband provider in the Western Isles.

Jim Mather: A choice of broadband providers is available from the exchanges that BT enabled commercially on the Western Isles. We understand broadband providers are also able to gain access to the Connected Communities network, should they wish to provide services over that platform.

Drug Misuse

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug search warrants were issued in Tayside in each of the last three years and in how many instances drugs were found.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is not held centrally.

Education

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide further information on its intentions for science and languages baccalaureates, as promised during the Ministerial Statement on National Qualifications on 24 April 2008 ( Official Report c. 7863-7881).

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish science baccalaureate and Scottish language baccalaureate will be important elements within the wider Curriculum for Excellence  programme. They will also contribute to the government’s principal purpose and strategic objectives. The awards aim to encourage more of our young people to study science and language courses in the later stages of secondary school. They will raise the status of S6 and assist our young people in making the transition from school to higher and further education and employment. As the baccalaureates will not constitute an exclusive programme of study, young people will also be able to study additional subjects and take part in other activities.

  The baccalaureates will include existing qualifications in science and languages at Higher and Advanced Higher level. The new element of the awards will be an interdisciplinary project to be taken in S6. This is intended to give young people the chance to work across subject boundaries, study a topic in greater depth and link their learning to areas of future interest in higher education, further education and employment. It will be important to give young people good opportunities for choice in the projects that they undertake. However, examples of the topics that could be studied within the science baccalaureate are exploring the engineering industry, investigating how the life sciences are used in industry and ethical issues in science. Examples of topics in the languages baccalaureate are how Scotland’s tourism and cultural provision is perceived by speakers of other languages and Scotland and global citizenship issues.

  A summary of the structure of the awards and courses that will be included in the Baccalaureates is attached.

  The Scottish Government and the Scottish Qualifications Authority will be taking forward work on the Baccalaureates with stakeholders in schools, colleges, higher education and representatives from business and industry. We expect the first baccalaureates to be awarded in August 2010.

  This is an exciting development which offers our young people new opportunities to develop their skills in science and languages and better prepare them for higher and further education courses and employment.

  Proposed Structure of the Scottish Science and Language Baccalaureates

  

 Content
Science Baccalaureate:Interdisciplinary project at Advanced HigherMaths at Higher2 sciences at Higher1 science at Advanced HigherLanguage Baccalaureate:Interdisciplinary project at Advanced HigherEnglish or Gàidhlig at Higher2 modern or classical language courses at Higher(one of the Higher courses could be replaced by the equivalent in modern language units).1 modern or classical language course at Advanced Higher


Grading
Pass: Passes in all coursesDistinction: A grade in Advanced Higher; at least B in all other courses



  Course Options to be Included in the Scottish Science and Language Baccalaureates

  

 Eligible Science Courses
 Eligible Language Courses


 Biology*
 


 Biotechnology
 French*


 Chemistry*
 German*


 Computing*
 Italian*


 Geology
 Russian


 Human Biology
 Spanish*


 Information Systems*
 Classical Greek*


 Managing Environmental Resources
 Latin*


 Mechatronics
 Gaelic (Learners)*


 Physics*
 Urdu


 Technological Studies*
 


 Building Construction
 Mandarin**


 Fabrication and Welding Engineering
 Cantonese**


 Graphic Communication
 


 Product Design**
 



  Notes:

  *Currently available at Advanced Higher level.

  **Will become available at Advanced Higher level from session 2009-10

  The SQA’s course catalogue is kept under constant review: new courses may be added, or existing courses may be deleted or replaced.

External Relations

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers from Scotland have been supported by the Link Community Development Global Teachers Programme to help schools in Malawi in each of the last three years.

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in Malawi have benefited from the Link Community Development Global Teachers Programme in each of the last three years.

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding the Link Community Development Global Teachers Programme has received in each of the last three years, also showing the percentages of such funding spent in Malawi.

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits for (a) Malawi and (b) Scotland it considers have been delivered by the Link Community Development Global Teachers Programme.

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support the Link Community Development Global Teachers Programme in each of the next three years.

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will confirm funding for the Link Community Development Global Teachers Programme after current funding ends in March 2009.

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a central register of school links with Africa as a means of sharing best practice.

Maureen Watt: Over the last three years 42 Scottish teachers have been selected by Link Community Development to take part in their Global Teachers Programme in Malawi (11 in 2005-06; 17 in 2006-07 and 14 in 2007-08). These placements benefitted 55 schools in 2005-06 and 85 in 2006-07. Figures for 2007-08 will not be available until after August 2008.

  Link Community Development were awarded £100,000 in 2005-06, £150,000 in 2006-07 and £150,000 2007-08 for the Scotland Malawi School Improvement Project., which supported a number of elements, one of which was the Global Teacher Programme. Link Community Development receives funding from a number of organisations and it is, therefore not possible to provide information on the percentage of funding spent in Malawi specifically from the Scottish Government grant for this programme.

  We have reviewed the funding given to Link Community Development to simplify the landscape for teachers. This means that from April this year most Scottish Government funded International CPD opportunities for teachers are being considered as part of the Scottish Continuing International Professional Development (SCIPD) programme for teachers administered by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). The SCIPD scheme includes opportunities for teachers to apply for continuous professional development opportunities in Malawi. This part of the programme is managed by the League of Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers.

  Other opportunities for teachers to participate in Malawi programmes include the Department for International Development Global Schools Partnerships programme which provides advice and guidance, grants and professional development opportunities for schools wishing to develop partnerships between the UK and Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This programme is managed by the British Council.

  Link Community Development currently receives funding from the International Development Fund which relates specifically to the Scotland Malawi School Improvement Programme in the Dedza District Assembly area of Malawi, which supports the development work that they are doing in Malawi. Any future funding for Link Community Development from the International Development Fund will be based on a satisfactory review of existing grant programmes and on whether future bids meet the relevant funding criteria.

  The work that Link Community Development does in the Dedza District of Malawi is supported by the government of Malawi, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The work which teachers are involved in is very highly regarded in Malawi, contributing to raising teaching and learning quality.

  There are no plans to publish a register of school links with Africa. As part of their role in promoting International Education in the curriculum, LTS collect data on schools which link with other countries throughout the world including schools linked with Malawi. There are a number of opportunities which currently exist to enable the sharing of good practice between practitioners and this includes the LTS website www.ltscotland.org.uk.

  School partnership links with Malawi have opened up a number of wonderful learning opportunities for teachers and young people in both countries. I would expect that the links established by schools should continue to ensure that schools benefit from and build on this established knowledge and learning.

Fisheries

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the legal advice received by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment in relation to implementing a moratorium on the permanent transfer of quotas by Scottish fishermen.

Richard Lochhead: It is not the practice of Scottish ministers to publish legal advice nor to disclose whether legal advice has been obtained. This is for reasons of confidentiality and in the interests of good and effective governance.

Fisheries

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its consultation, Safeguarding Our Fishing Rights: The Future of Quota Management and Licensing in Scotland, whether, under a separate fish quota management system for Scotland, a further round of reconciliation would be permitted to take account of the various quota transactions that have been agreed but not reflected in adjustments to the fixed quota allowance units assigned to licences.

Richard Lochhead: I am clear that while we need to be able to safeguard Scotland’s traditional fishing rights for the future, we also wish to maintain procedures which interface with other administrations in the UK. This is made clear in the consultation paper.

  We would be happy to discuss the terms of a reconciliation exercise with other administrations in the UK if, following consultation, this is deemed necessary. In such an event, I believe that it would be sensible for it to be conducted on a UK-wide basis to take account of any cross-border transactions.

Fisheries

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is now in a position to put out to tender the contract to build the second fisheries protection vessel, given that Hirta is now fully operational.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is not yet in a position to go out to tender. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10506 on 29 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Food Labelling

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update with regard to country-of-origin labelling in the food service sector in Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: We remain committed to introducing measures and have been in discussions with our key stakeholders, the European Commission and others about the way forward.

Forestry

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in setting policy targets in the Scottish Forestry Strategy or elsewhere for planting forests, it has undertaken a strategic environmental assessment; if so, whether it has included an assessment of the impacts on migrating fish such as salmon, the desirability of protecting peatlands and the requirements of EU protected species that occur on open ground habitats such as golden eagles and mountain hares, and how any adverse impacts of inappropriate afforestation will be avoided.

Michael Russell: Strategic Environmental Assessment was carried out for the preparation of the Scottish Forestry Strategy, including the woodland expansion aspiration further details are available at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6c3dj8 .

  Research was also undertaken on the potential for woodland expansion in Scotland, this is also available at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6mgfky.

  At a more local level, woodland creation is guided by Indicative Forestry Strategies prepared by local authorities, taking into account important environmental issues. At an individual scheme level, environmental impact assessment is required where there may be significant environmental impacts from woodland creation, in accordance with the Environmental Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. All proposed woodland creation schemes are subject to a public consultation process and must be implemented in accordance with the UK Forestry Standard.

Fuel Prices

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of rising fuel prices on local authorities.

John Swinney: Information on expenditure by local authorities on fuel is not held centrally. Under the arrangements set out in the concordat, the Scottish Government is in regular contact with COSLA on a range of issues affecting local authorities.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been screened for thrombophilia since May 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. We have accepted the advice from the National Screening Committee that population screening for thrombophilia should not be offered. As with all the topics on which it offers advice, however, the committee keeps the evidence base under review.

  It is usual in Scotland, however, for adult relatives of those with Factor V Leiden, the most common genetic mutation which gives rise to thrombophilia, to be offered genetic testing and given appropriate advice in the light of the result of that test.

Health

Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who has day-to-day responsibility of ensuring that the medicines dictionary available to prescribers through the Gpass Primary Care IT system is kept up-to-date on the systems used in primary care practices.

Nicola Sturgeon: Drug Dictionary updates for Gpass are made available by NHS National Services Scotland - National Information Systems Group to health boards and practices.

Health

Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how often it requires the medicines dictionary available to prescribers through the Gpass Primary Care system to be updated.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Drug Dictionary upgrades are produced by NSS as quarterly extracts via the eVADIS(evaluated drug information system) system. Gpass Drug Dictionary updates are in most cases cumulative covering the previous 2/3 upgrades

  Gpass has improved the frequency of the upgrades in recent months following a pledge to do so at their last User Group AGM in November 2007.

Health

Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates an update was sent by Gpass to prescribers to allow the medicines dictionary on their Gpass Primary Care IT systems to be updated in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following Drug Dictionaries have been released by Gpass since January 2006.

  

 Version
 Date Released


 DD42
 January 2006


 DD43
 May 2006


 DD44,DD45
 October 2006


 DD46,DD47
 October 2007


 DD48,DD49,DD50,DD51
 February 2008


 DD52
 May 2008


 DD53
Scheduled July 08

Housing

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for rent increases in the registered social landlord sector and over what period.

Stewart Maxwell: Scottish ministers have no powers to set rent levels for registered social landlords. Rent levels are a matter for registered social landlords to agree in consultation with their tenants.

Housing

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Better Value from Housing Association Grant - Changes to Grant in 2008-09, whether it has any concerns that increasing the levels of private finance could lead to registered social landlords being viewed as higher risk borrowers by lenders.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13391 on 4 June 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in relation to the Shirley McKie inquiry announced on 14 March 2008, it intends to take steps to control the costs of the inquiry.

Kenny MacAskill: In the answer to question S3W-11870 on 24 April 2008, I confirmed that the Scottish Government would take all reasonable steps to control the costs of the inquiry. Having particular regard to the terms of the Inquiries Act 2005, measures will be adopted to ensure that this inquiry will be able to operate in a cost-effective manner, while having the resources to fulfil its remit.

  Section 40(4) of the Inquiries Act contains a power for ministers to place conditions or qualifications on any awards that the chairman of the inquiry may make under section 40(1) and 40(2) in respect of compensation, expenses or legal representation. After discussions with the Inquiry, I have decided to issue a notice of determination under section 40(4) in respect of awards for legal representation. The terms of that notice are as follows:

  "The Scottish Ministers have determined, under section 40(4) of the Inquiries Act 2005 ("the 2005 Act"), that as regards the inquiry set up on 14 March 2008 and concerning the fingerprints associated with HMA -v- McKie in 1999, the power of the chairman of the inquiry to award amounts in respect of legal representation under section 40(1) and (2) of that Act shall be subject to the qualifications and conditions set out below.

  The qualifications and conditions are:

  1. Awards in respect of legal representation may be made only in circumstances in which the chairman considers it is necessary, fair, reasonable and proportionate for such an award to be made.

  2. Any award must be subject to the condition that payment will be made only for work that is evidenced and can be identified as having been done in an effective and efficient manner, avoiding unnecessary duplication and making best use of public funds.

  3. Awards may be made only in respect of legal representation provided by one or more named legal representatives whose involvement has been approved in advance by the chairman. The chairman must approve the size and composition of any legal team to be engaged, including the seniority and number of any counsel. Costs associated with work carried out by legal representatives who are not approved in advance of the work being carried out shall not be met from public funds.

  4. Any award must specify the nature and scope of the work that is to be publicly funded. Legal representatives must not be publicly funded for work that does not fall within the agreed scope. An inquiry under the 2005 Act is inquisitorial in nature and legal representatives will not be paid for investigative work or for work in relation to obtaining expert reports, unless the chairman gives express permission in advance for this work to be carried out.

  5. The legal representatives will agree in advance, with the solicitor to the inquiry, hourly rates for counsel and solicitors, subject to the following maximum hourly rates:

  Senior Counsel £200

  Junior Counsel £100

  Solicitors £150.

  6. The maximum number of hours that can be charged by a legal representative in receipt of an award made by the chairman shall be 40 hours per week, save that exceptionally the solicitor to the inquiry may authorise an increase in the weekly cap up to 60 hours for counsel or a solicitor during the oral hearings and for a two month period before they commence where the solicitor to the inquiry is satisfied that such action is justified in all the circumstances (e.g. when the work involved in any week clearly needs to exceed 40 hours).

  7. In respect of paragraph 6 of this notice:

  (a) no unused hours in any week may be set off against any other week;

  (b) a week shall be taken as commencing on Sunday and ending on Saturday;

  8. Expenditure incurred before notification of the chairman’s award, or expenditure in excess of the terms upon which approval is granted, will not be recoverable."

  This determination has been made on a preparatory basis. As indicated on 14 March in my answer to question S3W-10920, the chairman of the inquiry will remain focused on his existing judicial duties until the end of August.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Mental Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can confirm that the number of mental health nurse training places will drop from 550 to 340 in autumn 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: The student intake numbers for mental health nursing have been agreed at 366 for 2008-09. NHS boards recommended a target of 340, reflecting falling board demand for mental health nurses. The Scottish Government encouraged an additional uplift of 26 training places. The reduction of 156 on the 2006-07 intake reflects a declining uptake of places, the desire to improve student experience and to reduce the attrition rate within courses.

NHS Hospitals

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many falls involving hospital patients were recorded in each year since 1999 in NHS Lothian.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of falls and recording of such falls within hospitals is not held centrally. Recording and investigating the circumstances of falls and subsequent action is the responsibility of NHS boards.

  Following the work of the Falls Prevention Group, the Scottish Government issued guidance last year which included advice for NHS boards, Community Health Partnerships and others on actions to prevent falls by older people and improve bone health. The guidance is available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/OlderPeopleCare/fallsgroup. The guidance set out a number of recommendations for NHS boards to do locally, including the need for accurate recording and reporting of incidents, including falls.

NHS Staff

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been paid in staff mileage expenses by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it is having with NHS employers on reviewing the NHS staff car mileage rates to reflect continually changing fuel costs.

Nicola Sturgeon: I can confirm that the up-rating of mileage allowances payable to staff who have to use their car for work purposes was discussed at a meeting of the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC) on 29 May. STAC is a partnership organisation which exists to collectively negotiate terms and conditions issues for NHSScotland staff and is made up of representatives of trades unions and professional representative organisations and NHS employers. Meetings are facilitated by the Scottish Government.

  It was agreed at STAC to await the outcome of the UK Staff Council mileage allowances sub-group tasked with taking forward a review of mileage allowances. The sub-group is scheduled to meet on the 9 and 17 of June where it is hoped that agreement can be reached over any new arrangements.

NHS Staff

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what car mileage rates have been paid to staff by each health board, broken down by year since 1999.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it collects on patient waiting times and numbers for physiotherapy treatment.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information is not routinely collected nationally on patients waiting times and numbers for physiotherapy treatment.

Police

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drugs officers there were in Tayside in each of the last three years and of these, how many were seconded to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

Fergus Ewing: It is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Tayside to determine the deployment of officers within the force area and details of the number of drugs officers in Tayside is not held centrally.

  The number of Tayside police officers seconded to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) in each of the last three years is included in the following table. It should be noted that officers seconded to the agency will not necessarily be drugs officers, their duties may not be limited to drug enforcement, and some may be deployed elsewhere in the organisation.

  

 Year
 Number of Tayside Officers Seconded to the SCDEA


 1 April 2006
 17


 1 April 2007
 19


 1 April 2008
 17

Prison Service

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13039 by Kenny McAskill on 21 May 2008, whether it will consider collecting information centrally about the ages of children in Scottish prisons.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service currently collects information on the ages of children confined in Scottish prisons on its prisoner record database.

  The Scottish Prison Service does not collect data on female prisoners’ children and does not intend to do so.

Public Transport

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it believes it can enhance rural development through the development of public transport.

Richard Lochhead: We are funding a range of public transport services to support Scotland’s peripheral areas and piloting Road Equivalent Tariff on ferry links with the Western Isles. Local public transport provision in rural areas is a matter for the relevant local authorities.

Public Transport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport about the redevelopment of Partick Interchange.

Stewart Stevenson: The redevelopment of the Partick Interchange is a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). Scottish Government previously provided funding to SPT towards the project through the integrated transport and public transport funds. The Scottish Government have had no recent discussions with SPT on the redevelopment of the Partick Interchange.

Public Transport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about delays to the programme for the redevelopment of Partick Interchange.

Stewart Stevenson: The redevelopment of the Partick Interchange is a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). Delays to the programme have been due to engineering difficulties that are currently being resolved. SPT expect the redevelopment to be completed by the end of the year.

Rail Network

Tricia Marwick (Central Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it next intends to meet SEStran and Fife Council to discuss the possibility of reopening the Leven to Thornton railway line to passenger and freight trains.

Stewart Stevenson: My officials met with representatives of SEStran yesterday (4 June) to discuss the study into the possibility of re-opening the Leven to Thornton railway line. We expect to meet again at the conclusion of the study.

Rail Network

Dave Thompson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the safety of level crossings.

Stewart Stevenson: Railway safety is a matter which is reserved to Westminster.

  Rail travel is one of the safest forms of transport and the passenger accident rate remains at an all time low level with only one passenger fatality in the past three years.

  Whilst level crossing collisions remain at a historically low level, level crossing safety remains a top priority for the rail industry and significant amounts of work continue to be undertaken to mitigate the level crossing risk. About 96% of the risk arises from accidental or deliberate misuse of level crossings by members of the public.

Rail Network

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many closed or unoperational train stations there are, broken down by parliamentary region.

Stewart Stevenson: No definitive list of closed or un-operational stations exists to provide a breakdown by parliamentary region.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11769 by Stewart Stevenson on 1 May 2008, what percentage of marginal profit would have been returned to the Scottish Government had the profit of the ScotRail franchise reached 30% per annum at 2007-08 prices under the previous franchise arrangements.

Stewart Stevenson: There was no profit share provision contained within the previous ScotRail franchise arrangements. Therefore no profit would have been returned to the Scottish Government.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11771 by Stewart Stevenson on 1 May 2008, whether the supporting evidence and information arising from the "thorough value for money assessment" referred to can be considered confidential now that the contract for the ScotRail franchise extension has been signed, in light of rulings on such exemptions by the Scottish Information Commissioner, and when this information will be made publicly available.

Stewart Stevenson: Requests for information are handled on a case-by-case basis, looking at all the circumstances of each particular case.

  The assessment carried out was based on the costing model used by First ScotRail. Given the commercial sensitivity attached to this work and the commercial prejudice likely to arise from its release, it is considered the model and outcomes are commercially confidential. Therefore, the information is not publicly available.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when ministers indicated to FirstGroup plc their willingness to discuss terms on which an extension of the ScotRail franchise might be offered.

Stewart Stevenson: In December 2006 Scottish ministers indicated to Transport Scotland they were content for officials to discuss terms for a franchise extensions with First Group plc.

Rail Network

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide the latest information on its consideration of the Borders rail reconstruction project; what cost/budget analysis has been made, and whether it proposes to re-examine the plans in light of cost increases.

Stewart Stevenson: In my statement to the Parliament on 5 March 2008, I explained that I could not give an exact cost for the railway, because to announce a headline number would prejudice commercial negotiations, and for this reason I am unable to provide any further cost/budget information on the Borders rail reconstruction project.

  I also indicated that, at this stage in the project’s development, capital costs are expected to be in the range of £235 million to £295 million. Furthermore, this cost range is for building the railway in accordance with the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act 2006 and therefore there is no proposal to re-examine the plans for the railway.

Roads

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following its announcement of new options for funding public sector capital projects, how the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will now be funded and whether it has been deemed suitable to be funded through the Scottish Futures Trust.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12795 on 22 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

School Meals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure compliance by councils with its policy on the nutritional value of school meals.

Adam Ingram: HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has been monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of Hungry for Success through its programme of school inspections. Inspection activities include checks to ensure that school meals meet the Scottish nutrient standards for school lunches. Feedback on inspection findings, including recommended points for action where necessary, are given to the head teacher and senior member of catering staff in the school and also to nominated staff within the local authority. Where appropriate, follow-through inspections include evaluation of progress made in addressing any main points for action related to school meals.

  HMIE will also be involved in monitoring implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 (the Act) through their programme of inspections. Inspections will build on the activities that inspection teams undertook to evaluate aspects of health promotion and the implementation of Hungry for Success. They will focus particularly on the impact of actions taken by schools and local authorities to improve food provision in schools and the uptake of food provided.

  We are currently discussing with HMIE the main features of inspection activities. Where an inspection finds that a council or school is not complying with the requirements of the act, recommendations for action will be discussed with the council or school, and will be followed through to check progress as necessary. Where councils are found to take insufficient action to secure improvement, HMIE will refer them to Scottish ministers who will consider what action to take. Self-evaluation by schools and local authorities will continue to be important in measuring impact, identifying effective practice and securing continuous improvement.

  The act will place duties on local authorities and managers of grant aided schools to ensure that all food and drink provided in schools complies with nutritional requirements, specified by Scottish ministers by regulations. Draft regulations, The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008, are currently with the Parliament for approval. If approved by the Parliament, we will be publishing guidance to local authorities to assist them in implementing the regulations. Local authorities will also be advised on approaches to menu analysis to ensure that the data will be accurate and reliable for use in self-evaluation.

School Meals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring it undertakes of the provision of school meals to ensure that they comply with national nutritional standards.

Adam Ingram: HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has been monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of Hungry for Success through its programme of school inspections. Inspection activities include checks to ensure that school meals meet the Scottish nutrient standards for school lunches. Feedback on inspection findings, including recommended points for action where necessary, are given to the headteacher and senior member of catering staff in the school and also to nominated staff within the local authority. Where appropriate, follow-through inspections include evaluation of progress made in addressing any main points for action related to school meals.

  A progress report on the implementation of Hungry for Success was published by HMIE in January 2008. It included evidence from inspections of primary, special and secondary schools. It found that Hungry for Success has been successful in meeting many of its aims and that there have been notable improvements in the quality of school meals in Scotland. It also identified areas for further action and improvement, by schools and local authorities.

  HMIE will also be involved in monitoring implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 through their programme of inspections. Inspections will build on the activities that inspection teams undertook to evaluate aspects of health promotion and the implementation of Hungry for Success. They will focus particularly on the impact of actions taken by schools and local authorities to improve food provision in schools and the uptake of food provided. Self-evaluation by schools and local authorities will continue to be important in measuring impact, identifying effective practice and securing continuous improvement.

School Meals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children had school meals in each local authority area on a specific date in 2007-08 and how this compares with the same date in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07.

Adam Ingram: Results of the February 2008 survey of school meals are due to be published later this month. These statistics are published annually on the Scottish Government website and are available using the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PubSchooMeals.

School Meals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area have their own kitchens for cooking school dinners.

Maureen Watt: The information requested is not held centrally.

School Transport

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it is reasonable for all primary school-age children to walk two miles to school.

Maureen Watt: No. The relevant legislation makes it clear that local authorities may make arrangements as they consider necessary for the provision of travel to school. However, one factor the local authorities must take into consideration when making such considerations, is the safety of the pupils and in doing so may consider that in certain specific circumstances, they will provide transport for children living less than two miles from their designated school.

School Transport

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines a "safe walking route to school" for primary school-age children.

Maureen Watt: There is no such definition in legislation. However, in a Scottish Executive Education Department Circular (No.7 of 2003), a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 29135), it was made clear that ministers expect authorities to keep under review their criteria for providing school transport in light of a range of safety considerations, for instance including volume and speed of traffic, availability of safe crossings, sufficiency of pavements, footpaths and subways, built-up and wooded areas and adequacy of street lighting. This remains the position.

School Transport

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding for school transport it has provided to (a) South Ayrshire and (b) East Ayrshire councils for primary school-age children.

Maureen Watt: Under the new Concordat with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the local government finance settlement for 2008-11 set out in Finance Circular No.1 2008, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45732), the government has issued local authorities with increased levels of funding which are not earmarked or hypothecated to individual services.

  Alongside that increase in funding, the government has also devolved significant controls and flexibilities to local government in how councils deploy those resources. It is the responsibility of each council to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of their local needs and priorities such as for the provision of school transport.

School Transport

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is provided to local authorities on consulting prior to changing school transport arrangements for primary school-age children.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government’s School Transport: Survey of Good Practice , published last year, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45729) emphasised how many of the examples cited involved consultation with both pupils and parents at the planning stages and that this good practice should be borne in mind.

Schools

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when ministers met members of City of Edinburgh Council education committee to discuss the school building programme; who was present, and which schools were discussed.

Maureen Watt: The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and I last met Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, the Convener of Education, Children and Families, on 27 September 2007, accompanied by other elected members and appropriate officials. Discussion covered a range of educational issues, including the Council’s aspirations for future school building under what they term their "Wave 3" schools programme. In response to a subsequent request from Councillor MacLaren, the Cabinet Secretary has already indicated that she would welcome a further such meeting to discuss the council’s strategy and plans for schools.

Scottish Government Funding

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on end-year flexibility for the budgets of (a) central government, (b) local authorities and (c) NHS boards.

John Swinney: Our policy is that the financial resources available to the Scottish Government should be applied fully, efficiently and effectively to supporting excellent public services. Consequently we expect unspent balances at the end of each financial year to be very low. We successfully reached agreement with HM Treasury to release large unspent balances accumulated by the previous administration. This money is supporting public service delivery over the period covered by the 2007 Spending Review.

  As part of the negotiations with the Treasury any unspent resources from the Scottish Government will be retained by the Treasury and cannot be accessed until after the conclusion of this spending review period.

  Local authorities are subject to a financial framework which differs in detail from that applying to the Scottish Government. In particular, local authorities are required by statute to have a general fund. With some exceptions, again defined by statute, all income received by the authority is paid into this fund and all expenditure paid out of this fund. At the end of each financial year any balance on the general fund is held as a general reserve by the local authority and is available for use in future financial years. Local authorities therefore control the use to which any unspent funds at the end of a financial year are put

  The Scottish Government’s policy is to provide NHS boards with appropriate financial flexibility, for example in relation to the timing of capital expenditure. An administrative arrangement operates whereby a board can carry forward unspent balances of up to 1% of its total financial allocation for use in the following year.

Scottish Government Property

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what properties it has (a) acquired and (b) disposed of since May 2007, showing the cost in each case.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45748).

Scottish Government Property

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many commercial businesses, including farms, it owns and what plans it has for the disposal of such businesses.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45749).

Scottish Government Staff

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive where each (a) Cabinet Secretary and (b) Minister has their principal office base; how many staff there are in each private office, and how many are based in the (i) Parliament and (ii) ministerial office.

John Swinney: The information requested is listed in the following table.

  

 Office
 Principal Base
 PO Staff
 Ministerial Office Based
 Parliament Based


 First Minister
 St Andrew’s House
 10
 10
 0


 Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture 
 Victoria Quay
 2.5
 2.5
 0


 Minister for Parliamentary Business
 Scottish Parliament
 6
 0
 6*


 Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth
 St Andrew’s House
 5
 5
 0


 Minister For Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change
 Victoria Quay
 3
 3
 0


 Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
 Meridian Court
 3
 3
 0


 Cabinet Secretariat for Health and Wellbeing
 St Andrew’s House
 4
 4
 0


 Minister for Public Health
 St Andrew’s House
 2
 2
 0


 Minister for Communities and Sport
 Victoria Quay
 2
 2
 0


 Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
 St Andrew’s House
 4
 4
 0


 Minister for Schools and Skills
 Victoria Quay
 2
 2
 0


 Minister for Children and Early Years
 Victoria Quay
 2
 2
 0


 Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
 St Andrew’s House
 4
 4
 0


 Minister for Environment
 St Andrew’s House
 2
 2
 0


 Cabinet Secretary for Justice
 St Andrew’s House
 4
 4
 0


 Minister for Community Safety
 St Andrew’s House
 2
 2
 0


 Lord Advocate & Solicitor General
 Chambers Street
 4
 4
 0



  Notes:

  All Cabinet Secretaries and ministers have an office base at the Scottish Parliament and members of their staff work from this base on average two days a week.

  *The Minister for Parliamentary Business has six staff who are based in his ministerial office at the Scottish Parliament, this includes the Parliamentary Clerks Office.

Scottish Water

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish Water about the removal of the stench from the Seafield waste water treatment plant.

Stewart Stevenson: My officials have regular discussions with Scottish Water on a number of issues which include odour at Seafield waste water treatment plant.

St Andrew's Day

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the arrangements will be for a St Andrew’s Day holiday for (a) its, (b) UK Government and (c) private sector staff in 2008 and how this compares with 2007.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to marking St Andrew’s Day as a National Day and as a holiday. With effect from this year, staff in its core Directorates, including senior civil servants, and those agencies which make up the Scottish Government main bargaining unit have therefore been given an extra day’s holiday to celebrate St Andrew’s Day. In 2007 staff were given the option of exchanging an existing half day holiday for a half day on St Andrew’s Day.

  St Andrew’s Day is a Scottish bank holiday and therefore it does not affect other parts of the UK.

  Individual employers are free to decide whether to take St Andrew’s Day as a holiday.

Teachers

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers are expected to graduate in 2008 and how this compares with (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007.

Maureen Watt: The numbers of students graduating from teacher training in 2006 and 2007 are available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/03/18093809/110 .

  Comparable figures are not yet available for 2008 but 2,054 primary sector students and 1505 secondary sector students have been allocated to local authorities for the 2008-09 teacher induction scheme. However, not all of these students will graduate and the numbers eligible to take up their allocations will be smaller.

Teachers

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers are expected to retire in 2008 and how this compares with (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government carries out an annual teacher workforce planning exercise. That exercise estimates the number of teachers leaving each year but does not differentiate between retirals and other reasons for leaving. The estimated number leaving in the years requested is set out in the following table:

  

 
 Primary Trained Teachers
 Secondary Trained Teachers


 2006
 2,977
 2,510


 2007
 3,064
 2,630


 2008
 3,279
 2,795

Wildlife

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Environment has taken any advice to determine whether Scotland breaches the EU habitats directive by indiscriminate use of snaring of European protected species, such as otters.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government is satisfied that where snaring is carried out according to best practice, it is lawful. Intentional or reckless snaring of European protected species is a criminal offence.

Wildlife

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has ruled out a ban on snaring.

Michael Russell: Following an extensive period of consultation the Scottish Government decided that the balance of argument was in favour of allowing snaring to continue, subject to further regulation to improve animal welfare. This was set out in the statement of 20 February 2008. There are no plans for a further review of snaring.